Digitizing the Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American Recordings

The digital preservation of 24,000 Mexican and Mexican-American recordings of traditional and vernacular music from the Discos Ideal label, dated from 1940 to 1990, issued on 2,400 33-1/3 rpm LP vinyl records and 200 reel-to-reel master tapes; partnering with the Digital Library at the University of California, Los Angeles, the recordings would be mounted on a searchable, bilingual website.

The Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American Records is the world's largest gathering of Mexican vernacular music, constituting the most sweeping sound-recorded document of greater Mexican culture. To date, the Arhoolie Foundation, owner of the collection, has successfully completed the digital preservation of some 17,000 78-rpm records (34,000 individual recordings) and 20,000 45-rpm discs (40,000 individual recordings)and 9000 individual recordings on rare cassettes; in partnership with the UCLA Digital Library, we have created scholarly and public access through a searchable bilingual website. This proposal seeks to continue our work and support the transfer of an additional 24,000 recordings carried on approximately 2,400 33-1/3 rpm LPs and 200 one-of-a-kind reel-to-reel master tapes from the Discos Ideal label, and delivery to the University of California Digital Library where they will be made available online to scholars and to the general public.